USF1 – The Launch
On February 24, 2009, the next American foray into Formula One occurred with the launch of the USF1 team. Here’s an overview of the team as currently constructed.
The USF1 team is the brainchild of two men, one you know and one you do not. Ken Anderson is an American who has a long history in motorsports. He’s worked in US open wheel racing, NASCAR and has built the state of the art wind tunnel in Charlotte that teams from around the world fly to use. More importantly, he has a history in Formula One as a technical director for the Ligier Team. He has designed cars that have won the Indianapolis 500 and other prestigious races.
The second face of USF1 is better known to F1 fans – Peter Windsor. Windsor has worked as a journalist/designated track interviewer on the main feed for Formula One races. Many Americans mistakenly believe he works for SPEED TV, but he does not. Regardless, Windsor was involved in Formula One long before he ever started asking questions of team members and drivers. He served in the management of Ferrari and Williams at different times and is considered to be an old pro at handling the publicity and sponsor side of the game.
Anderson and Windsor would seem to make a perfect combination for the team. Windsor is well known and accepted in Formula One circles. He can deal with the politics of the championship while Anderson designs and builds a car. Throw in an American driver or two and it could be all good as they say.
The launch of USF1 is actually a bit of a situation where one has to hurry up and wait. How so? Well, the team is in the very early stages of development. There goal is to have a car on the grid for the first race of the 2010 season. Considering the 2009 season hasn’t started yet, we are a ways off. Confirming as much, Windsor stated that the team will not have a car on the track until early 2010.
The team intends to design the car over the summer of 2009 and will sign an engine deal this year. Given the close relationship between Windsor and McLaren Mercedes, one can surmise that USF1 will run Mercedes engines. BMW is very publicity savvy and might try to make sure it has a BMW engine in the US car, but all indications seem to point to USF1 being somewhat of a minor league McLaren team much like we are seeing with Force India. Given the state of American manufacturers, there is nothing wrong with that at all.
Who will drive the car? While USF1 has done nothing to squash the Danica Patrick rumors, such a match seems unlikely. The team has made statements that the drivers will be American. If so, the obvious choice would seem to be Marco Andretti. A dark horse would be Kyle Busch, a driver who has shown impeccable skill in car handling and would be an absolute terror in Formula One. Given the fact the car will probably not be competitive the first few years, it is far more likely the team will go with young, unknown drivers who come cheap.
America is back in Formula One! Here’s hoping Anderson and Windsor are able to pull this off.
Lemmy